Exploring the gardens of Woburn Abbey

Woburn Abbey is a country house, the family seat of the Duke of Bedford. Although it is still a family home to the current duke, it is open on specified days to visitors, along with the diverse estate surrounding it, including the historic landscape gardens and deer park (by Humphry Repton), as well as more recently added attractions including Woburn Safari Park. It also has (but we did not see) a miniature railway and a garden/visitor centre.
It was set out and founded as a Cistercian abbey in 1145. Taken from its monastic residents by Henry VIII and given to John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford, in 1547, it became the seat of the Russell family and the Dukes of Bedford. The Abbey was largely rebuilt starting in 1744 by the architects Henry Flitcroft and Henry Holland for the 4th Duke. Anna Russell, Duchess of Bedford, originated the afternoon tea ritual in 19th-century England.

Lion Lodge is an attractive building at the entrance to Woburn Park along the road leading from Woburn to Eversholt through the park itself. I was more interested in the gate piers so did not photograph the lodge!

Closeup of the lion on top of its pier.

Some deer went for a spot of sunbathing ...

.... while others opted for a cooling off in the stream.

This little fellow ran across our path and then obliged by sitting very still on a nearby branch.

The front of Woburn Abbey taken as we drove in on the `long route` toward the parking area.

The rear of the stately home.

The sculpture garden

Looking toward the Rockery

In 1802 Repton was commissioned by the 6th Duke to produce designs for enhancing the gardens and deer park. The Duke wanted to create points of interest for the guests he entertained at Woburn Abbey.

The rockery and pavilion formed part of Repton’s plans for formal ‘Pleasure Grounds’ at Woburn Abbey and illustrations of all of Repton’s designs and ideas were collated in his Red Book. This book was completed in 1805 and is still held at the Abbey today. The Woburn Estate has the greatest number of realised Repton plans in the UK, but until 2011 the rockery stood uncompleted.

In 2009 the Gardens Team began restoring the rockery, which had suffered from weather damage and was overgrown with trees, with the ultimate goal of recreating Repton’s original illustration.

In 2011 F Martin Ltd were commissioned to build the pavilion and, together with the Abbey Gardens Team, constructed it on the top of the rockery. It took four weeks to build and a week to put together on site.

 The Bog Garden

 To quote their website: Woburn Abbey Gardens are located on ribbons of clay and sand. Where the two meet, there is a spring as the water tracks up to the surface in between the different materials. As a result a boggy patch developed in this particular spot. 

Opened in 2007, this contemporary part of the garden was initiated after Her Grace, the Duchess of Bedford, asked if we could do something with this boggy turfed area. It didn't make sense to fight the natural condition of the area, so the Gardens Team decided to design and create a Bog Garden for the space.The Bog Garden construction includes 9 different sizes of gravel and boulders to make up the layout that you see today. It was designed to represent a dried up stream and is planted with bog loving plants, including a few carnivorous species.

Figure in the Bog Garden

The Sculpture Gallery, with Rosey photographing dragonfly on the lake. The Sculpture Gallery is used for weddings and other functions. What a beautiful setting, with it`s secluded gardens as well.

The English custom of taking afternoon tea was popularised in the 1840s by Duchess Anna Maria, wife of the 7th Duke of Bedford. A Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Victoria, Anna Maria began the custom of taking afternoon tea at around 5.00pm and it became a popular part of the day at Woburn Abbey and the Royal Palaces.

The 6th Duke of Bedford designed the Hornbeam Maze in 1831. The plaque over the entrance incorrectly states that this is a Labyrinth, as it is actually a maze. A maze is defined as a branching puzzle which has multiple paths and directions you can take. A labyrinth is defined as a puzzle that has only one non-branching path, which leads to the centre.

At the centre of the maze is The Chinese Pagoda which was built in 1833 and is based on a design by Sir William Chambers dated 1757. The Woburn Abbey Hornbeam Maze was 6 feet high when restoration work started but reduced to 3 feet and 6 inches - a big shock to such an old hedge.

The hornbeam was allowed to re-grow and then, over 2 years, slowly clipped it back to form the maze you can see in the gardens today. 

There was no physical evidence of the original Aviary, which was constructed in 1805, as it had been cleared during the war for easier maintenance of the gardens. The restoration of the Aviary in 2011 aimed to make Woburn Abbey Gardens more family friendly. The Aviary was returned to Woburn using etchings and descriptions of the building from an historic book about the Gardens called Hortus Woburnensis. It was reconstructed with a frame made of green oak. During the reconstruction a time capsule was placed in the roof of the structure which included photos of the Gardens Team, the Duke and Duchess and their children, and a newspaper from the day of completion. The Aviary is now home to golden pheasants, budgies and quail.

A cool place to sit on a very hot day!

In the village of Woburn are these cottages which were once almshouses, I believe. In 1968 the almshouses were settled on new trustees and registered with the Charity Commission. Both blocks were listed by English Heritage in March 1987 as Grade II, of special interest. The listing states that the present properties were erected by Francis, 7th Duke of Bedford, in 1850. They are built of yellow brick with dressings in render and have clay tiled roofs. Blocks built to the rear are in red brick. The dwellings comprise two storeys and are built in a “loosely Jacobean style”.
Their origins reach further back in time to when, on 29th May 1635 Sir Francis Staunton of Birchmoor made his will. One of the clauses read as follows (note the original spelling): “I will and bequeath forty pounds to be bestoed by my executor in house or land to the use of the poore of Woburne aforesaid for ever, within six yeares after my decease and in the meane tyme till the said house or Land shall be bought, in lew thereof I appoint my executor to give unto fortie of the poore Twelve pence a yeere upon the Eight day of december”. The trustees, many years late, bult the original amshouses.

The church, on Park Street, Woburn, was built to the designs of the architect Henry Clutton between 1865 and 1868 and paid for by William Russell, 8th Duke of Bedford. It replaced the old parish church in the village which, except for the tower, was demolished when the new church opened.

The tower was equipped with a monster bell (said to be the largest in a parish church at the time) of 55 cwt (6,160 pounds (2,790 kg)), cast in C by Mears and Stainbank of London.

On opening the church tower was surmounted by a spire which reached to a height of 181ft. This was itself crowned with a copper cross at its summit, which took the total height to 195 feet (59 m). However, structural problems caused the removal of the spire in 1890.

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